Looking like a great weekend of fishing weather on tap--sunny and calm today through Saturday and then the Blue Winged Olive and streamer weather--rainy and drizzly--returns on Sunday. We've got a few more weeks of October and the consistent fall fishing that can often occur...but then it is November and it is truly day to day. Right now there is no one dominant food source so the trout have been pretty opportunistic. Tandem nymph rigs are the go-to now but some anglers are holding faith and hunting with a hopper or large ant or beetle pattern. Some days larger options like sculpin patterns and rubber legs can produce, but don’t miss out on trying small baetis emergers. The skinny riffles hold some surprisingly large fish this time of year.
Because trout will feed on BWOs during any of the four stages, it is important to have a selection of nymphs, emergers, adult dries, and adult spinners. Let's start with your nymph selection. Traditional nymphs like beadhead Phesant Tails and Sawyer Pheasant Tails work well in sizes 16 to 22. More recent and popular patterns are the JuJu Baetis, Micro Mayfly, and any beadhead Perdigon patterns. Choose nymphs in sizes 16 to 22. Proven mayfly emerger patterns like WD-40s, Film Critics, and RS-2s, are very effective when trout are focusing on emergers.
For dry flies/adult patterns, a Brook's Sprout Baetis floats well and can be used as an emerger or adult. A Parachute Purple Haze is almost always successful and can also be used in tandem with an emerger pattern as part of a two-fly rig. A Sparkle Dun or Compardun work well as a single dry fly. Additionally, because BWO adults don't always hatch perfectly and adults can become injured while hatching, a "cripple" style mayfly pattern can be very good. For spent mayflies a traditional Rusty Spinner is always a good choice.
The Upper Madison is fishing well and producing some big fish, like this 26-inch brown trout caught recently!
Flies for the Madison Right Now:
Lil Spanker in sizes 16-22
Zebra Jig Midges in sizes 18-22
Beadhead PTs in sizes 18-22
Juju beatis in flash or tan in sizes 16-20
Parachute Adams in sizes 12-18
Pats Rubberlegs in brown/tan or brown in sizes 8-14
Pheasant Tails in flashback or natural in sizes 10-16
Rainbow warriors in sizes 14-20
The Month Ahead:
As the fall progresses and pressure drops off fishing can be very good on the Upper Madison. Egg patterns later in the fall can produce but otherwise a lot of the same bugs that worked in the summer will produce down under but make sure to have some smaller baetis nymphs like RS2s. On cloudy days fish will also rise to thick baetis hatches, especially up by Quake lake.
Long Term Fishing Forecast:
The Upper Madison will cool down in the late fall as temps drop and the wind becomes tougher. Between the lakes and up in the Park it will remain good while targeting lake run browns. This isn’t the greatest winter fishery.
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